"You want me to go on a blind date?" Aqua asked.

The young blue haired woman looked to her two younger friends. Namine – a fair blonde – and Kairi – her redheaded counterpart. The two girls smiled brightly. While they might have been a year or two younger than her, they were her closest female friends. Most of her friends just happened to be guys. She didn't typically fit the 'dainty, pretty, cutesy' category that most young women fell into. She had her nose stuck in a book as a child. As an adult, she focused more on her career than she did the opposite sex.

"Yes! Please?" Kairi implored.

"I don't know. A blind date? It sounds like recipe for disaster." Aqua sighed.

"C'mon, it's been nearly three months since you broke up with Zack. I know it was a mutual thing but you've been sulking." Namine pointed out.

They worried about her, insisting they wanted to see her happy. Her last relationship had ended well over a year ago. She and Zack just hadn't been compatible. He was nice and all, she enjoyed being with him, but there came a time when she realized she didn't feel that way about him and he didn't feel that way about her. They ended things as friends and still hung out from time to time. Last she had heard, Zack was dating a young woman named Aerith who owned a quaint little flower shop.

"I hate not!" she protested.

"Have too," the girls replied in unison.

"I… don't think I have the time," Aqua lied.

She knew full well she had nothing but time on her hands. Simply put, she didn't feel like going out. Dating, in particular, was messy work. Emotionally exhausting and if it didn't work out, you set yourself up for heartache. You could fall for someone who could wind up breaking your heart. The best way to avoid it was to not try to date at all. She wasn't up for dealing with complicated things.

"Aqua, one date," Kairi requested. "Just one. It can't hurt, right? Maybe you'll like him."

She knew looking up was a bad idea. Both of the girls were looking at her imploringly. Her resolve was always mush when it came to her friends. She didn't want to. She would rather do anything than meet up with the 'perfect' stranger. Despite the girls' good intentions, Aqua had her reservations about it. She found herself sighing, caving in under the pressure of their kicked puppy looks.

"Fine… just one date but you let it go after that," Aqua said.

"Of course!" Namine agreed.

Her friends began their search to find the right guy for her. Kairi and Namine meant well. She knew they did. But Aqua wasn't so sure she needed a man to tell her how loved and validated she was. However, the girls found someone willing to go out with her. They told her how great this guy was, how handsome, how amazing he was and how happy they could be together. Aqua's excuses to get out of the date were flimsy at best.

And so she found herself dolled up, wearing a navy dress that clung to her like a second skin with dangerous four inch heels that made her feet ache at the very thought of walking. She hated heels. Dresses weren't so bad (if only this one hadn't had a hemline so short). They had even done her makeup. Considering that Aqua could barely tell the difference between chapstick and lipstick, the younger girls took it upon themselves to doll up the blue haired tomboy. Add to her beauty, they said. Instead, Aqua felt fake. Not at all like herself. She had all the makings of a fancy night out.

Except her date.

Two plates, two cups, two chairs, one occupant.

Her date was twenty minutes late. The hostess (a pretty girl with beautiful wavy hair) was already giving her that look from the entrance – the one of pity. They both knew where things were going. Aqua was already willing herself not to cry. It would ruin the makeup that Kairi and Namine had so painstakingly put on for her. The hostess pulled aside the waiter and whispered something to him. He spared a glance to her table, his expression unreadable before he nodded and walked off towards the back. Probably to spread the rumor of the girl who was getting stood up, Aqua thought dryly.

At thirty miutes late, people began to stare at her table. Hushed whispers floated around her. Raised eyebrows sent her way. A murmur here. A joke at her expense. A laugh there. Her throat was tight with mortification. How could she let her friends talk her into this? Why wouldn't he at least let her know he wasn't coming? Was it so hard to send a text message? Some part of her whispered how she deserved this for thinking she could find someone out there who could possibly find her remotely interesting. What if he had been there, seen her and decided she wasn't worth it? Her heart went heavy with the thought.

After fifty minutes, Aqua wanted the ground to swallow her up so she didn't have to die from humiliation. The waiter had been by twice, asking ifs he wanted to order. Both times she declined, only asking for a drink (which he was making sure was topped off at all times). She insisted her date was coming. He gave her the same look the waitress had. She could hear snippets of conversation about her. She wanted to scream. How dare they make assumptions about her? There was nothing wrong with her. He was the one who was late.

People were gesturing at her. Laughing out loud. Nudging their neighbors and nodding her direction. At one point she got up and went to the bathroom, wiping off the makeup. She didn't think she would need it after all. She returned, resolved to wait only ten minutes more. Ten minutes and she could go home, go back to comfortable clothes, warm blankets, perhaps a good book or a cheesy movie? A tub of ice cream wouldn't be missed either. Anything to get over the pain of being humiliated like this.

She's done her best to play denial. Even her texts to the guy had gone unanswered. But her heart sank when she saw that he had just seen them. Seconds rolled by, turning into more minutes until it finally hit her. He wasn't going to come.

Her head fell into defeat after an hour. Pride finally broken, she grabbed her clutch and got to her feet. Her cheeks flushed red and an unwanted heat surfaced along her body. She wasn't going to waste anymore time on him if he wasn't going to show. She could pay for her drinks and leave while she still had some dignity left. However, she was going to have nothing to show from the date but a lighter wallet, puffy eyes, a wet face and a defeated gait. Just as she stood, a jacket fell over the back of the chair opposite her. She looked up to see a man in a blue button up with the bluest eyes she had ever seen.

"Sorry I'm late. There was an awful accident. Had to take the long way around." He said.

His voice is far smoother than should be allowed. His smile as mischievous and knowing. He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her into a hug. She stiffened in his arms. She didn't know this man. If he had been her date, wouldn't he have messaged her instead of still going to the restaurant and assuming she had stayed? So who was he? His breath was warm against her ear.

"Go with it?" he requested. "Whoever stood you is a jerk."

He pulled back and smiled before easing her back to her seat, even pushing in her chair before taking his seat across from her. He made himself comfortable and gave her a smile that made her heart clench. His bright smile was too much for her. She had been emotionally yanked around all night because of this.

"I'm Jack," he whispered conspiratorially.

They were conspirators together after all. He saved her from the walk of shame out of the restaurant from being stood up. He's calm and confident. Acting as if nothing were out of the ordinary. Following his lead, she eases back in her chair, even smiles when the waiter comes back, looking visibly relieved when he finds he isn't alone. Jack laughs it off with a witty remark about traffic. The young man takes their order and disappears in the back. The tension from before seems to have melted away at this man's appearance.

"I'm Aqua." she said softly.

"Pretty name."

She can't help the heated blush that spread across her cheeks. It was such a simple compliment and yet it sent her into a tizzy. If Kairi and Namine found out, they would have a field day with it. She didn't know what to make of this stranger. He didn't know her. He didn't have to pretend to be the date that never came. HE also didn't have to flirt with her and yet there they were. She wondered if it was too late to wish to die from embarrassment.

"Jack... why are you doing this?"

"You looked like you could use a friend."

"You didn't have to."

"Then... maybe it was because I needed a friend?"

He gives bright smile as he leads them into conversation. He was simple in what he asked her, as if he's trying his best not to pry too deeply or cross some imaginary boundary that he was setting for himself. He doesn't want to overstep some boundary with the girl he rescued from some social outcast situation. She couldn't help but be candid with him. Occasionally, her response makes him raise a brow with the grin painted to his face.

They cross get-to-know-you topics – ages, what they did for a living, hobbies and interests. He's older than her. He's the heir apparent of a huge toy industry but he spends most of his time making sure the kids have fun with the toys than actually designing. He leaves that to his adoptive father Nikolas North. There's no missing the way he bit his lip to hide his grin when she tells him that she works at a library and that the library runs a summer program to keep kids out of trouble.

The embarrassment from before melts away the longer they talk. Jack is smart, and his confidence makes itself known in every response. Confident but not demeaning. He has gone well out of his way to make sure that she was comfortable. Making jokes, laughing, telling stories and experiences. She questions how quickly she had become enchanted with the man. Jack was just a generally likable person. She doubted anyone could just hate him on principle.

"This has been a lot of fun," he said. "We should do it again sometime."

"Are you asking me out?" she blurted out.

"Well, yeah..." he said sheepishly. "Did you have fun?"

He scratched his cheek and pointedly looked away from her. Seeing his confidence waver wasn't necessarily a bad thing. If anything, it showed her he was really sincere about it. He also wasn't trying to convince her to have a one night stand. Despite how the evening started, they both enjoyed themselves. She hadn't thought past the evening but she could see herself going out with him again. She paused, thinking it over. Despite her initial mortification, Jack really managed to salvage her evening. She no longer wanted to curl into a ball of shame and cry over a pint of ice cream.

"Yeah. I did," she confirmed.

"So? Would you go out with me?" he asked.

"I don't know..." she said, drawing it out.

He could see the smirk on her lips but he played along, pouting. He reached across the table, taking both of her hands in his and giving them a tight squeeze. Her heart seemed to feel the pressure of the gesture far more than her hands did. This amazing guy who made her awful night into something wonderful... It might not have been the blind date her friends wanted for her, but she was more than happy with the turn of events.

"Please Aqua?"

She found herself laughing. Jack's enthusiasm was rather catching. He seemed to pout for real when she took her hands back. She found a pen in her clutch and wrote down her number before passing it over to him, like they had just made some sort of contractual agreement. If so, this was probably one of the better agreements she had gotten herself into.

"Okay Jack," she agreed. "One more date."

"Awesome. I won't let you down."